The tornado outbreak of April 6–8, 2006, was a major

tornado outbreak A tornado outbreak is the occurrence of multiple tornadoes spawned by the same Synoptic scale meteorology, synoptic scale weather system. The number of tornadoes required to qualify as an outbreak typically are at least six to ten, with at least ...

in the central and parts of the southern United States that began on April 6, 2006, in the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

and continued until April 8 in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, with most of the activity on April 7. The hardest-hit region was

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...

, where several strong tornadoes devastated entire neighborhoods and left ten people dead. Some of the worst damage took place in

Gallatin, Tennessee Gallatin is a city in and the county seat of Sumner County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 30,278 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 census and 44,431 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Named for United States Secre ...

, and other communities north of

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

also sustained significant damage. There were 73 tornadoes confirmed across 13 states, with the bulk of them coming on the afternoon and evening of April 7 across the South, particularly in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. In total, 10 deaths were reported as a result of the tornadoes, and over $650 million in damage was reported, of which over $630 million was in Middle Tennessee. It was the third major outbreak of 2006, occurring just days after another major outbreak on April 2. It was also considered by some to be the worst disaster event in Middle Tennessee since the 1998 tornado outbreak.

Meteorological synopsis

The outbreak was caused by a powerful low pressure system over the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

that produced a powerful cold front, which tracked eastward across the South and combined with warm air from the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

to form severe thunderstorms; with activity concentrated on April 7. The

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

Storm Prediction Center The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) is a US government agency that is part of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), operating under the control of the National Weather Service (NWS), which in turn is part of the National Oceani ...

issued a high risk for severe weather for both April 6 and 7, forecasting favorable conditions for an extremely strong tornado outbreak on both days. The High Risk in effect for April 7 was first introduced in the 1730 UTC Day 2 Outlook on April 6, making it the first of only three days for which a Day 2 High Risk has been issued (subsequently occurring for April 14, 2012 and March 15, 2025). However, activity was not as intense as expected on April 6; only 12 tornadoes were confirmed, most of which were in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. Several were damaging, but only a few injuries and no deaths were reported. The reason for the relatively modest level of activity was due to a more stable than expected air mass that day over the region, with lower

dew point The dew point is the temperature the air needs to be cooled to (at constant pressure) in order to produce a relative humidity of 100%. This temperature depends on the pressure and water content of the air. When the air at a temperature above the ...

s and less

wind shear Wind shear (; also written windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical ...

, despite the absence of a cap (which would have otherwise allowed a much larger outbreak). Conditions changed the next day in the South as the system moved eastward, with the cold front entering a more conducive environment. The increased wind shear, combined with the high temperatures and humidity levels, produced tornadoes beginning late that morning and continuing throughout the day into the overnight hours. At 2000z, the NWS issued the highest risk possible for tornadoes, as well as the only time it has ever been issued, a 60% risk. By the day's end, a total of 48 tornadoes developed. Several of them caused significant damage and loss of life. The worst tornadoes hit

, where 10 people died. In addition to the tornadoes, there were reports of

hail Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...

as large as softballs, powerful microbursts and straight-line winds, and local

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

ing. Extensive damage was also reported in the northern suburbs of

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, when storms developed there overnight into the early morning of April 8. Despite a lower risk of activity on April 8, severe weather continued in

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

— mostly in the early morning hours, with another 13 tornadoes reported before the outbreak finally ended as the system moved offshore into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. Over the three-day period, 73 tornadoes were confirmed, though the high number of overall tornadoes disguises the fact that most were weak F0 or F1 tornadoes.

Confirmed tornadoes

Aftermath

On the night after the tornado hit Gallatin, there were many reports of

looting Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

in the devastated community. A nightly

curfew A curfew is an order that imposes certain regulations during specified hours. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to remain indoors during the evening and nighttime hours. Such an order is most often issued by public authorit ...

was required to combat the looting and maintain order in the community. There were a total of 23 arrests made. The

United States National Guard The National Guard is a U.S. state, state-based military force that becomes part of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. military's reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, reserve components of the United States Army, U.S. Army a ...

was called in after the tornado hit to help with security and the removal of the excessive debris. It took 10 days for

Volunteer State Community College Volunteer State Community College (Vol State) is a public community college in Gallatin, Tennessee. It is part of the Tennessee Board of Regents. Vol State serves the suburban Nashville community. The main campus of the college is 30 miles (48 ...

to re-open after the tornado hit. The City of Hendersonville did not have tornado sirens at the time of the tornado, but the city installed some soon after the storm. On September 26, the Greater Nashville Regional Council awarded the authorities involved in the recovery (including the municipalities of Sumner County) the Marshall S. Stuart Memorial Award for outstanding intergovernmental cooperation after the tornado. The quick response by other local authorities, counties and cities was congratulated. On October 8, an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition featured a family from Hendersonville that had their home being rebuilt after it was destroyed by the tornado. However, insurance issues plus personal injuries held back the recovery for many, and some neighborhoods have been slow to recover. Nonetheless, many homes have been rebuilt in the area.

Images

Image:Gallatintornado1.jpg, Damaged cars near Nashville Pike in Gallatin, Tennessee Image:Gallatintornado2.jpg, Residential damage in Gallatin, Tennessee Image:Gallatintornado3.jpg, Residential damage in Gallatin, Tennessee Image:Gallatintornado4.jpg, Residential damage in Gallatin, Tennessee Image:Gallatintornado5.jpg, Residential damage in Gallatin, Tennessee Image:Gallatintornado6.jpg, Damage to a storefront in Gallatin, Tennessee Image:SPC_severe_outlook_04072006.png,

Probabilistic Probability is a branch of mathematics and statistics concerning events and numerical descriptions of how likely they are to occur. The probability of an event is a number between 0 and 1; the larger the probability, the more likely an e ...

maps issued by the

during the heart of the outbreak.

References

External links